It was the series that Test cricket needed: Nasser Hussain on India vs England
The inaugural edition of the Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy has lived up to the expectations it generated before the series. While many expected England to run away with the series, the Indian team, which is undergoing transition in both batting and bowling has put up an admirable fight. Apart from winning the second Test at Edgbaston, they pushed England in the first Test at Leeds as well as Lord's.
'In general, the fight between the teams has made it much more watchable. It has been great TV,' Hussain wrote. 'We talked at the start of the summer about two iconic series coming up for England, India at home and then Australia away. When you build a series up, sometimes it can be a bit one-sided and deflating. But this has not disappointed and I think Test cricket needed a series like this.'
While the first two Tests were played without much drama, beginning Lord's there were some heated battles in the middle which continued in the press conferences as well. 'There have been so many memorable moments. There was that over at Zak Crawley on the last night at Lord's. You had Pant strolling down the stairs on one leg at Old Trafford, hobbling around as he batted with a broken foot. Here at the Oval, we saw Joe Root – the most mild-mannered, calm individual – going off at one after some verbals from Prasidh Krishna. Then there was Sai Sudharsan, another calm person, walking into the England huddle and having words with Duckett. I have enjoyed every single minute of it,' Hussain said.
Hussain, though, said the scheduling and the conditions that were on offer in the previous four Tests could have been better. 'The only downsides have been the pitches and the schedule. Make no mistake, this series needed this Oval pitch. Although every Test has gone to the last session, it has slightly been too much in favour of the bat. Here, ball has dominated bat just enough to make it an incredibly watchable match,' Hussain wrote.
Hussain then went on to agree with England captain Ben Stokes that the scheduling of the matches could have been better. While two Tests had a gap of more than week, there was just three-day gap between the fourth and fifth. 'As for the schedule, five Tests in six weeks has been too tight and the dates have also been odd. I agreed with Ben Stokes when he questioned why there have been two long turnarounds between Tests, of eight or nine days, and then two short ones of three days. It would be better to have a five-day break between them all,' he wrote.
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